The late civil rights champion Thaddeus Stevens.
"Lincoln," the new Steven Spielberg film starring Daniel Day-Lewis in the title role and Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, presents a more positive picture of the 'Old Commoner' than has been previously seen in cinema. In this special series of articles, we take a look back at the life of one of Lancaster's most famous sons. For an index of articles in this series, go here.
Much is said about the polarization of politics today, but the current Republican-Democratic divide hardly compares with the divisiveness of the combustible 1850s and 1860s — before, during and after the Civil War.
No one was more radical or partisan in that fractured period of American history than Lancaster's Thaddeus Stevens.
As the most powerful Republican in Congress, he had no time for those who did not support the abolition of slavery and the persecution of the defeated Confederacy.
Stevens was on the right side of history but generally on the wrong side of those who opposed his policies at the time. As he skewered his enemies, he made more and more enemies.
Similarly, when he served in the Pennsylvania House in the 1830s, he gave short shrift to those who opposed free public education for all.
Largely because he advocated the harsh measures of Reconstruction and vindictively persecuted the South after the war, Stevens' reputation suffered for generations.
Many early historians and practically anyone who lived south of the Mason-Dixon line viewed Stevens as a man whose undeniable mean streak canceled his positive accomplishments.
Beginning in the 1950s and accelerating during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, a restoration of Stevens' reputation began.
His crucial support for the 13th and 14th amendments to the Constitution and his unwavering demands for equality of all Americans still seemed radical a century after his death. They also seemed more affirmative.
Hans Trefousse summed up current scholarly opinion in 1997 when he concluded his biography of Stevens:
"His policies often sounded harsh, whether vindictive or not, but his legacy made possible the racial progress in the twentieth century. ... Ahead of his time, he worked for an interracial democracy. It was a goal for which he assuredly deserves to be remembered."
And remembered he has been, especially in recent years, by a sculpture at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, by restoration of his home and office as part of the Lancaster County Convention Center and now with a largely positive portrayal of his character in the film "Lincoln."
Undeniably, Stevens was a great divider. As another biographer, Fawn Brodie, said of him: "All his life Thaddeus Stevens was aggressive and implacable in his hatreds."
But he also was a great egalitarian at a time when most people — North as well as South — were not prepared to give equal rights to blacks.
Stevens could not have helped overthrow slavery and the Confederacy by being a nice guy.
The heavy-handed tactics Stevens employed to attain his goals always will be controversial.
But the value of his core legacy — freedom and equality for all Americans and free public education in Pennsylvania — should no longer be controversial at all.
Jack Brubaker, a Dickinson College graduate, is a columnist and investigative reporter who has worked 36 years for Lancaster Newspapers. He and his wife, Christine, live in Manor Township. They have two children. His email address is jbrubaker@lnpnews.com.
